With very few exceptions, the true measure of a champion is how they respond to defeat. The reason the names of Floyd Mayweather, Joe Calzaghe and Rocky Marciano are etched on the great boxing tablet is because they never tasted a professional defeat. But for most of the great champions, the Muhammad Alis, the Sugar Rays both Robinson and Leonard, the Manny Pacquiaos; defeat was part of the job. An obstacle to overcome in a journey to establish your greatness.
Anthony Joshua suffered his first professional defeat in June 2019. Andy Ruiz Jr stunned the oddsmakers and the world in taking the WBA, IBF and WBO heavyweight championship from Joshua via seventh-round TKO. The result sent shockwaves through the sport. It evoked memories of James ‘Buster’ Douglas puncturing the Mike Tyson myth in 1990. Memories flooded back of Hasim Rahman knocking out Lennox Lewis in 2001.
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Joshua had mostly had things his own way since turning pro in 2013. The Olympic gold medalist smashed his way through the usual parade of stat-padding fights on his way up. He cleared out the old guard of the British scene, knocking out Michael Sprott and Matt Skelton. Konstantin Airich and Denis Bakhtov were names that once meant a little something, but not by the time ‘AJ’ smashed them.
Joshua was perhaps somewhat fortunate that ‘Prince’ Charles Martin ended up as IBF heavyweight champion. The American only won the title by virtue of Vyacheslav Glazkov picking up an injury during their title fight. But after an impressive knockout of Dillian Whyte, Joshua got his shot. The venerable ‘Prince’ lasted just two rounds. Joshua was a heavyweight champion of the world.
He stayed that way during six defences. His army of trolling online naysayers will pick apart his record, but Joshua enjoyed a fine reign. Wladimir Klitschko was stopped in 11 of the most thrilling heavyweight rounds contested on British soil. Joseph Parker, the only challenger to hear the final bell, was beaten to unify the WBO crown with Joshua’s IBF strap and the WBA gong he picked up against Wladimir. Alexander Povetkin, a dangerous former world champion in his own right, was stopped in seven rounds. Joshua has his doubters now, but back in 2019 the nation believed in their Olympic hero.
Then Ruiz happened. The casual side of the boxing-watching public mocked the challenger for his rotund appearance. More seasoned watchers knew he was a gifted fighter and a far smoother boxer than his physique suggested. On the night, it was the chin-stroking wannabe-pundits who were proved right, as he toyed with Joshua before stopping him.
Joshua up until that point had been on a gilded path. A carefully constructed road of increased difficulty that carried him from no-hope journeymen through fringe contenders to title level. He had succeeded as a champion to a degree he sadly does not get credit for now. But Ruiz had thrown a spanner in the works. For the first time, Joshua would have to fight from underneath.
‘AJ’ took his task seriously and on this day in 2019, he stepped through the ropes with Ruiz again. His opponent had perhaps let his sudden fame get to his head, touring the talk show circuit and enjoying the fruits of his labour to a degree that saw his weight balloon from 268 pounds to 284 for the return fight. But Joshua was focused. He weighed the same as the first fight, to the pound at 237. But his approach was entirely different.
Knowing he couldn’t win in the trenches against Ruiz, ‘AJ’ took measures to make sure the fight never got there. He jabbed, using his eight-inch reach advantage to its fullest. Joshua boxed like he had never boxed before. The casual fans who had laughed at Ruiz the first time were bored. But the boxing aficionados knew what he was trying to achieve. Joshua lost the war the first time, so he decided to set the rules of engagement this time. Joshua would make sure this was a chess match.
It was a chess match he won, barely taking a punch in anger from Ruiz. Champions overcome and, in regaining his unified titles, ‘AJ’ added his name to the pantheon. It isn’t how you win, but sometimes how you lose, that defines you.
The trouble with Joshua since is that he has let that loss to Ruiz define him. The new, methodical Joshua wasn’t a one-night only strategy. It is one he has carried into every subsequent fight. Something of the old Joshua was lost in June 2019 and the version we saw that December came to be the only Anthony Joshua.
At times it has served him well, such as in his successful first defence over Kubrat Pulev or in walloping Robert Helenius earlier this year. But it has hurt ‘AJ’ at other times. He was far too fun-shy in two losses to Oleksandr Usyk. Joshua flattered to deceive in winning a decision over Jermaine Franklin this past April. The devil-may-care heavyweight who thrilled audiences in the mid-2010s is long gone. The win against Ruiz showed many things. A willingness to adapt and overcome. A spirit Joshua has arguably never lost. But it also showed that all good things must come to an end. The old ‘AJ’ is dead. Long live ‘AJ’.
*18+ | BeGambleAware | Odds Subject To Change
